y road. People who did not see these things as clearly as De
Witt Clinton saw them, spoke of the enterprise most sneeringly and
called the canal "Clinton's big ditch." It very soon appeared that
Clinton was right. In one year the cost of carrying a ton of grain from
Lake Erie to the Hudson River fell from one hundred dollars to fifteen
dollars. New York City soon outstripped all its rivals and became the
center of trade and money in the United States. Other canals, as the
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, were marvels of skill. But they were not so
favorably situated as the Erie Canal and could not compete with it
successfully.

[Illustration: CONESTOGA WAGON AND TEAM.]

[Sidenote: The first railroads. _McMaster_, 285-289.]

297. Early Railroads.--The best stone and gravel roads were always
rough in places. It occurred to some one that it would be better to lay
down wooden rails, and then to place a rim or flange on the wagon wheels
to keep them on the rails. The first road of this kind in America was
built at Boston in 1807. It was a very rude affair and was only used to
carry dirt from the top of a hill to the harbor. The wooden rails soon
wore out, so the next step was to nail strips of iron on top of them.
Long lines of railroads of this kind were soon built. Both passengers
and goods could be carried on them. Some of them were built by private
persons or by companies. Others were built by a town or a state. Any one
having horses and wagons with flanged wheels could use the railway on
the payment of a small sum of money. This was the condition of affairs
when the steam locomotive was invented.

[Illustration: AN EARLY LOCOMOTIVE.]

[Sidenote: Invention of the locomotive, 1830.]

[Sidenote: Hardships of early railroad travel.]

298. The Steam Locomotive.--Steam was used to drive boats through
the water. Why should not steam be used to haul wagons over a railroad?
This was a very easy question to ask, and a very hard one to answer.
Year after year inventors worked on the problem. Suddenly, about 1830,
it was solved in several places and by several men at nearly the same
time. It was some years, however, before the locomotive came into
general use. The early railroad trains were rude affairs. The cars were
hardly more than stagecoaches with flanged wheels. They were fastened
together with chains, and when the engine started or stopped, there was
a terrible bumping and jolting. The smoke pipe of the engine was very
tal